Material flow-BK: Analysis of the raw material, technology and sustainability potential of biobased plastics in Germany

The competitive pressure on agricultural land continues to grow and, at the same time, hopes are pinned on a circular sustainable bioeconomy in order to achieve the European Union's goal of climate neutrality by 2050 and to fulfil environmental and nature protection targets. The bioeconomy per se is already struggling with conflicting goals, which are being exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and the associated sanctions against Russia. The dependence on imports of raw materials such as gas and oil makes it clear how fragile our economy is and increases the demand for more self-sufficiency, without disregarding the cultivation priorities on the available land in agriculture: Food security versus sufficient animal feed versus reliable bioenergy supply versus availability of biogenic raw materials for various industries such as the chemical, paper or plastics industries.

The project therefore aims to research biomass potentials with a focus on residual and waste materials as well as by-products and their regional processing options. Technical conversion processes for the utilisation of residual and waste materials and by-products must be examined and assessed in detail in order to ultimately be able to compare the available ingredients and market-relevant materials. Only if the available biomass can be used to produce bioplastics that are in demand will it make sense to form regional clusters of key players. In this case, the focus would be on regional and local economic alliances, which would have to be formed - away from the industrial conurbations and towards regional conditions.

Furthermore, a realistic approach can only be pursued if the supply costs of the selected biomass are also known. Only then does it make sense to analyse possible technology paths from the point of view of sustainability assessment.

With biobased plastics, whether as physically bio-based, mass-balanced biobased plastics or as a product from waste and residual materials from agriculture and forestry, the reduction of CO2 pollution on the environment, the use of import-independent raw materials to increase the market share and the production of biobased plastics (BK) in Germany can be achieved through,

• long-term sequestration of carbon,
• utilisation of residual and waste materials and by-products,
• establishment and implementation of the mass balance approach,
• cascade utilisation of biomass and consideration of the recycling of BK

succeed.